Prince Charles describes 'horror' of Syria's refugee crisis

The Prince of Wales described the "horror" of Syria's refugee crisis today as
he visited a camp in Jordan for those who have fled the bloody civil war.

The Prince and the Duchess of Cornwall met victims of torture and families torn apart by the conflict who begged them to "Help us."

The Duchess described the refugees' plight as "harrowing" after hearing their stories during the visit to the King Abdullah Park refugee camp seven miles from the Syrian border.

It is home to 1,200 of the 440,000 Syrian refugees who have poured into Jordan over the past two years, and houses less than 24 hours’ worth of new arrivals in the country.

The Royal couple dropped in on one of the families living in prefabricated huts in the camp, where Naim, 55 (who did not want to give his surname for fear of reprisals) told the Prince he had been tortured.

"I was arrested twice in 2011 because I write poetry against the [Assad] regime," he said. “They put out cigars and cigarettes on my body and arms.

"They would tie me up and blindfold me and started doing things to my body."

He fled his village near the southern Syrian border with his wife and five children in July.

The Prince asked him: "Do you see any end to this horror?"

He replied: "It is with you. You have the solution. The Syrian people are everybody's problem." He added: "Help us."

The Prince said: "Many of these children have been traumatised by the horrors of what they've witnessed before they got here.

“Some of them have lost their parents and had horrendous experiences and it is remarkable what all these wonderful [aid agencies] are doing to deal with this unbelievable and heartbreaking situation.”

He praised the “truly remarkable” generosity of the Jordanians, but said: “It’s putting more and more strain on food and hospitals, so clearly the Jordanians need more assistance and help to be able to cope with this immense challenge. It’s a desperate situation.”

The couple also visited a therapy session where children aged six to 14 are given help to overcome the trauma they have lived through by drawing happy memories of home to give them hope for the future.

Noraman, 13, who lost her father and two brothers when her village of Mahaja was attacked, drew apple and orange trees and told the Duchess: "This is the garden I remember in my house but I'm not sure it will be there when I get back."

In the garden she drew were a flag of Syria and a flag of Jordan, reflecting her uncertain future.

Emira, 12, does not know if her father is alive or dead and said: “I’m not sure if I will see him again. My mother sometimes says he is dead and sometimes says he is in prison.”

Sava Mobaslat, 41, the programme director for Save the Children in Jordan, said the 600 children at the camp are bussed to local schools to continue their education but go to the children’s centre every day for therapy sessions.

“It is aimed at building coping mechanisms and providing resilience,” she said. “We use drawing, drama, music and arts as an alternative form of expression through which they can express their anxiety and frustration to help them get over it.

“They draw guns, bodies, a lot of red to begin with and gradually they go back to drawing the garden in their back yard.

“The time frame for their recovery varies from child to child, it takes longer for someone who has witnessed the death of a parent or sibling. We have one girl who was walking to school and saw it bombed with her siblings inside and it took her a long time to get over that image.”

After meeting women making knitted goods to raise money for the camp, the Duchess said: "Seeing all these children, some of whom have lost their parents and been adopted by others, I feel it's quite heartbreaking.

"Some of their stories are so harrowing, but what I find so remarkable is their strength of spirit and the way they are so cheerful despite their circumstances.

“I think that is women for you. They have got their children to look after, they have to survive.

“But to think that many of them don't even know whether their husbands are alive or dead...it is just awful.”

King Abdullah Park does not compare in scale to the Zaatari camp nearby which has 146,000 people in it, but security concerns meant the Royal couple could not go to the larger camp.

Andrew Harper, the humanitarian coordinator in Jordan for the UN High Commission for Refugees, said: "The desperation of the people in Syria is rising and we are not seeing any indications that the situation is going to get better any time soon."

A million people have already fled Syria for neighbouring countries and Jordan alone could have a million within its borders by the end of 2013.

Mr Harper said: "I still think we are at the preliminary stages of a mass migration from Syria to Jordan.

“Jordan can’t continue to take hundreds of thousands or a million with nice words from the international community.

“We need significant support and investment. We are all running out of money. People expect us to do the impossible and we are facing a looming disaster.”

Later the Prince and the Duchess visited Jerash, one of the best-preserved Roman cities in the world, where they were given a guided tour of the streets, temples and amphitheatre.